No speedometers planned for NASCAR

Some drivers would like a speedometer added to their cars, or have NASCAR's electronic timing system that records the pit row speeds refined to cut down on possible error. "I have wondered why we don't have speedometers," veteran driver Mark Martin said Friday. "The tachs are not quite as accurate as a speedometer might be. But the system works. It's just really devastating when you have one of the races of your life slip through your fingers."

Could NASCAR make the switch from RPM to mph on the dash? Nope. Sprint Cup Series director John Darby said the tachometer was the most reliable factor in determining pit row speeds. "They get multiple usages out of a tachometer as an engine meter as well, without having to bother with the expense and the troubles of adding another piece of equipment to the car," Darby said at Pocono Raceway. "The tachometers today are so sophisticated that teams can actually program their pit road speed into the tachometer." Most teams have even added a lighting system to the tachometer. A green light means a driver's speed is in the clear, yellow signifies he is pushing the limit and red means the speed is over the limit.

Besides, if the cars had a speedometer the drivers would know their exact speed both on the track and on pit lane and NASCAR has a real reason why they don't want that. It's the same reason why transponders are not allowed – so teams cannot get the cars actual speed out on the track. In the end the speed of your car is what the NASCAR computers tell you it is…..so how can you dispute that? After all, NASCAR would never use software that had, say, the F12 key programmed to deduct, say, 0.25 sec from your time while you were qualifying because your sponsor was disgusted and threatening to leave and needed the publicity that winning the pole brings or, say, the F9 key programmed to add 3 mph to your pit lane speed as you were coming down pit lane to put you over the speed limit. Just ask Juan Montoya. Absolutely not. NASCAR would never do such a thing.